Office of Price Administration

"on one issue, Kaiser experienced continued frustration. From the start of shipbuilding, he almost never had enough steel plate and other important supplies. To keep vessels rolling down the ramps, Kaiser mastered evasion of bureaucratic regulations. 53 In the early fall of 1942, Office of Price Administration (OPA) officials charged him with paying black market prices for steel from a willing supplier in Cleveland. In the ensuing ruckus, columnist Raymond Clapper rose to Kaiser’s defense: “If you have to be a scofflaw to get steel out of the arsenal of bureaucracy, then that’s okay with me. If that’s the way Old Man Kaiser has to get his steel to build ships to carry American forces to the fighting fronts, then I hope the old fellow breaks every law in the books.”"

"on one issue, Kaiser experienced continued frustration. From the start of shipbuilding, he almost never had enough steel plate and other important supplies. To keep vessels rolling down the ramps, Kaiser mastered evasion of bureaucratic regulations.53 In the early fall of 1942, Office of Price Administration (OPA) officials charged him with paying black market prices for steel from a willing supplier in Cleveland. In the ensuing ruckus, columnist Raymond Clapper rose to Kaiser’s defense: “If you have to be a scofflaw to get steel out of the arsenal of bureaucracy, then that’s okay with me. If that’s the way Old Man Kaiser has to get his steel to build ships to carry American forces to the fighting fronts, then I hope the old fellow breaks every law in the books.”"